Pages

Monday, November 9, 2015

Tourism in Canada in 2015

This year has been marked by the
fall in oil price, the depreciation of our currency, and the contraction of our
economy. Activities likely to benefit from this adverse situation are exports
and tourism. Is it actually the case? I will focus here on tourism.

Over the first two quarters of
this year, while the economy was contacting, the number of tourists entering
Canada grew. The highest growth rates observed were in April, 5.96%, and May,
7.25%. Since June Canada has returned to growth and the number of tourists
visiting our country started declining. In August, after three consecutive
months of growth, the number of tourists who chose Canada as destination dropped
by 4.64%.

Total Number of
Tourists Entering Canada, 1992:M1-2015:M8

Looking at the situation by
province, the month of June was beneficial for Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Alberta
which received respectively 21%, 9.5%, and 6.4% more entries. While the
situation was adverse in July and August for most provinces, Ontario, Yukon, and
Nunavut managed to attract more foreign visitors in July.

Each month, Ontario receives about
half of the non-resident tourists entering Canada, and British Columbia about
one-quarter. This share is currently above seasonal averages in Quebec,
Alberta, and British Columbia but that is not the case in the other provinces.

Along with the number of
non-resident tourists entering Canada, the tourism GDP grew by .45% over the
first two quarters of the year.